


you make me feel this way somehow

by SilverMoonSky



Series: Adrinette April 2020 [8]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Is Sunshine, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, Adrien is bored, Adrinette April 2020, Dorks in Love, F/M, Fluff, He and Marinette are actually really good friends, He's starting to have feelings for Marinette but doesn't realize, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Plagg Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug), Quarantine, So he FaceTimes Marinette, adrien is a dork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-09
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:55:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23554165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/pseuds/SilverMoonSky
Summary: Paris is in quarantine, and Adrien's bored--his extracurriculars have all been cancelled, he can't go to school and see his friends, and worst of all, he can't transform into Chat Noir. So he decides to FaceTime Marinette and see what she's up to.Written for Day 8: Hair Down for Adrinette April.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Adrinette April 2020 [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1685854
Comments: 39
Kudos: 354





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I too have written a quarantine fic. Why? Because I couldn't think of anything to write for this prompt and after over two hours of brainstorming, I had a thought. Marinette, like me, wouldn't actually bother to comb and put her hair up during quarantine, right? And so this happened :P

Adrien never thought he’d see the day where he’d actually have  _ more  _ free time than he knew what to do with. With Paris--and basically the rest of the world--under quarantine, he was stuck at home the entire day with only his father, Nathalie, and the Gorilla to keep him company. And Plagg, of course, but the kwami of destruction didn’t do much but complain about his dwindling stash of cheese. Most of Adrien’s extracurriculars had been canceled (he was still expected to practice though, but that only took up so much time), he couldn’t go to school and see his friends, and worst of all, he couldn’t parade around the city as Chat Noir  _ or _ see his lady. Somehow Hawk Moth had realized there was no point in akumatizing people while they were all in quarantine.

This left Adrien to spend his days idly browsing the Ladyblog, binge watching anime, reading all the Ladynoir fanfiction he could stomach before asking himself why in the world he was reading fanfiction about himself, and occasionally FaceTiming his friends. Even Ladybug had decided to give him a safe email with the warning, “don’t you dare try and track the IP address, kitty”, so they could keep in touch.

All in all, he’d say things were going pretty well. But it didn’t stop him from being completely bored from time to time.

“Hey Plagg?” Adrien asked one day, flopping onto his bed and sighing dramatically. “I’m bored.”

“Good for you, kid,” Plagg said, hovering over his chosen’s head.

“And I can’t even FaceTime Nino because he said he’s spending time with Chris today.”

“You could always get me more cheese,” Plagg offered. He snarfed down a hunk of camembert. “My supply is running low.”

Adrien sat up, looking at Plagg with a frown. “I told you not to eat up the stash that quickly.”

The kwami shrugged. He grabbed another piece of cheese and wolfed it down.

Adrien rolled his eyes and said nothing, instead turning over in his bed. “I could talk with Ladybug, but we just talked this morning and I don’t want to bother her again. . . .”

“Why don’t you just talk to Pigtails?”

“Pigtails?” Adrien echoed, confused.

“Yeah, Pigtails. The one you’re always  _ gushing  _ about.”

Adrien didn’t register the jab. “Oh, you mean Marinette!”

Of course! Why hadn’t he thought of that earlier? It had been a couple of days since he’d talked with her, and even then it was in a group call with Nino and Alya. He hadn’t had a chance to talk with her separately yet. He smiled. It would be nice to catch up with Marinette and see how she was faring.

“Good, call her and don’t bother me,” Plagg grumbled as he perceived the widening grin on Adrien’s face.

“What are you gonna do anyway?” Adrien asked, watching his kwami fly up towards the bookshelves and out of sight.

“None of your business!” Plagg yelled.

He ignored his kwami and instead checked the time--it was 15:00, meaning Marinette should be free--before grabbing his phone, scrolling through his contacts, and hitting call. It rang twice before Marinette picked up. He beamed at the camera, but frowned when his phone displayed her ceiling and not her face. In the background he could hear faint sewing noises.

“Gimme a sec, Alya,” Marinette muttered. “I’m finishing something up.”

_ She thinks I’m Alya. _

Marinette would have a pleasant surprise when she finally picked up the phone, Adrien thought in amusement. So he waited, listening to the rapid humming of her sewing machine. It went on for a minute or two--incredibly  _ awkward _ minutes, might he add--before Marinette finally picked up the phone and held it to her face.

“Hey Marinette,” Adrien said.

Marinette yelped and promptly dropped the phone. It fell to the floor with a  _ clang. _ “A--Adrien! I--I’m so--sorry!” He heard her scrambling to pick it up. “I didn’t realize it was you.”

“That’s okay,” Adrien said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Marinette propped her phone against her desk so that he could see her face. He noticed that Marinette’s hair was down. It was clearly uncombed, dangling loosely against her shoulders. It was such a different look from her usual pigtails. She looked more mature, and much. . . .  _ prettier _ . 

He caught himself staring. Adrien cleared his throat. “Your hair looks nice. I’ve never seen you wear it down before.”

“Oh.” Marinette’s cheeks flushed with color. “Thanks. I just didn’t bother to comb it today, because well, you know.” She waved her hands around.

He laughed. “I get it. It’s a miracle I actually shower every single day,” he joked.

“I know right!” Marinette exclaimed. “I’m usually terrible with getting enough sleep,” she added, “but now when I actually have time, I stay up doing other things.”

Adrien nodded. “I’ve had more free time now than I’ve ever had before, and I can’t seem to find enough things to do.”

“I’ve been filling my time by working on commissions,” Marinette said. She held a couple of sewing pins against her lips.

“I practiced piano earlier and worked on some math sheets, but now I’m bored,” he said, flopping back against his pillow and holding his arms up to keep his phone angled towards him.

“What, you’re out of Ladynoir fanfiction to read?” Marinette teased.

Adrien scowled. When Nino had figured out his secret obsession, it hadn’t taken long for the rest of his friends to find out. “You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

“It’s not my fault you’re such a dork,” she said pointedly. She took one of the pins from her lips, and the faint humming of the sewing machine started up once again. “If you could, I bet you’d write your own Ladynoir fanfics.”

“What do you mean  _ if _ I could?” He asked indignantly. “Of course I can write!”

Marinette stopped what she was doing and raised her eyebrows at him. “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Adrien grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

“Wait, you’re actually gonna do it?” She stared at him, incredulous.

He shrugged. “It’ll give me something to do.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“I can bet you that my Ladynoir fanfics will be a thousand times better than anything you’ve ever read.” Adrien got up from his bed and started walking towards his computer. “In fact, I’ll start writing one right now.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “I doubt it.”

A comfortable silence stretched between them as Marinette continued to sew and Adrien pulled up a new word document. Ladybug would  _ kill _ him if she ever figured out he was writing fanfiction about them, but that was a thought for another day. It wouldn’t hurt not to tell her, right?

(If only he knew.)

The next couple of hours went by in a blur. As they continued to work on their own things, the two of them talked, laughed, playfully teased each other. . . . it was simply amazing.

“I have to go now,” Marinette said. It had been almost four hours since he’d called her. “For dinner.”

Adrien nodded, checking the time. “I probably have to go now anyways,” he said.

Marinette stood up, taking her phone with her. He could hear walking towards her trapdoor. “Make sure you share that fanfic with me when you’re done with it.”

He grinned. “Sure. And then you’ll have to admit that it’s the best thing you’ve ever read.”

“We’ll see about that.” He could hear the sound of her opening her trapdoor.

“If you don’t mind,” Adrien started, hesitant, “do you want to call again tomorrow too?”

Marinette smiled at him. “I’d like that.”

“Great!” He beamed, waving at his phone. “See you tomorrow then.”

“You too,” she said, and with that, the call clicked off.

Adrien sighed and blinked dreamily at his phone.

“Ew, gross!” Plagg flew out of his hiding spot and glared at Adrien. “Your love sickness while talking to Pigtails was so painful to watch.”

Adrien smiled at the comment and placed his phone down on his desk. “That wasn’t love sickness, Plagg. Marinette’s my friend.”

“Sure kid,” Plagg grumbled. “Whatever you say.”

Adrien ignored his kwami, instead reminiscing on the past couple of hours. He was so lucky that he got to spend that time with Marinette. She was such a great friend, and hopefully, he’d be able to spend that much time with her everyday.

He grinned. It seemed that the rest of quarantine was going to be great.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien unknowingly ends up revealing his identity as Chat Noir to Marinette when he shares his Ladynoir fanfic with her.
> 
> Written for Day 9: Alternate Timeline for Adrinette April.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to Serenagold in the comments for giving me this idea!! I originally wasn't going to expand this fic, but this was just too tempting to write. I absolutely love how this turned out :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy! :)

Adrien’s leg bounced with excitement under his desk as the clock ticked closer to 15:00. In just a couple of minutes, he could call Marinette again! Yesterday, she had helped quench some of his loneliness and boredom; there was no doubt the same would happen today. Besides, he was ecstatic to finally be able to share his Ladynoir fanfic with her.

Not surprisingly, his fic turned out to be _beautiful_. After vowing that it would be better than anything she’d ever read, Adrien spent hours perfecting his masterpiece. It had been worth it. He thought it captured the true spirit of Ladybug and Chat Noir, from the intimacy of their wit and banter to their affection for one another as they rested side by side, stars twinkling above them on the rooftops of Paris. It was nothing explicit. He’d kept the mood light and innocent. It was a simple story that told of Paris’s beloved superheroes finally admitting their love for one another. A tale of how they would finally come together.

And soon, it hadn’t been just a fanfic. No, to Adrien, it started to become so much more than a silly little story. He poured his heart out into every single word, letting all his inner thoughts and dreams and fantasies come to life, _feeling_ the love radiating from his characters, _feeling_ the pain, _feeling_ the hope. . . .

It was enough to make him hope even more than he already did. After all, he’d been wishing for years now. But if he was patient. . . . if he waited. . . . good things would come to him too, right?

So lost in thought, Adrien almost didn’t hear his blaring ringtone.

_Almost._

He picked up his phone, smiling when he saw Marinette’s contact ID, and accepted the call.

“Hey Adrien!” Marinette waved at him with a grin.

“Hey Marinette,” Adrien said. “What’ve you been up to?”

“I’ve been helping Maman and Papa perfect some recipes down in the bakery,” she said, sitting down at what appeared to be her desk.

Adrien sighed, his mouth watering as he thought dreamily of all the pastries at the Dupain-Cheng bakery. “I bet that’s a lot of fun.”

Marinette shook her head. “If you call being covered head-to-toe in flour and sugar fun, sure.”

“Still. I’d do _anything_ for one of your parent’s baked goods right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you’re being starved, Adrien. You’ll live a couple of weeks without a pastry or two.”

Adrien put a hand to his chest dramatically. “When quarantine is over, the first thing I’m doing is coming over to the bakery. I can’t stand being parted from those famous passionfruit macarons for too long.”

Marinette laughed. “I’ll be sure to let Maman and Papa know to save some just for you.”

“Please do. I’ll need it.”

“Dork,” Marinette said, shaking her head fondly at him. “So, what’ve you been doing? Finished up that Ladynoir fic for me yet?”

Adrien grinned. He propped his phone against his desk so that he could pull up his word document on his computer. “I did. Are you ready to admit that it’ll be the best thing you’ve ever read?”

“We’ll see about that.” She placed her phone down on her desk as well, angling it towards her face as she turned towards her computer. “I have a lot of experience from reading all of Alya’s Ladynoir fics.”

“I love Alya and all, but I’m _purrty_ sure you’re going to find this one to be even more _pawsome._ ”

Marinette gaped at him. Adrien merely smiled cheekily back at her.

“You know what, I’m not going to even comment on that. Just send it to me, please.”

Adrien quickly typed in Marinette’s email and sent it to her. He saw Marinette’s icon appear on the document. Adrien sat back, watching Marinette with glee as she read it. She would just _have_ to admit that his fic was amazing. He was sure she’d never read anything like what he’d written--a lot of the fic had been based on Ladybug and Chat Noir’s actual dynamic, not the one they usually presented when they were in front of fans or the press. That made his fic a lot more authentic. While he did love reading other Ladynoir fanfics and seeing their fan’s interpretations of the duo’s relationship, in the end none of that was _real_ . To others, Adrien’s fic might seem like an alternate timeline. A lot of the things in it would seem very far-fetched. But the truth was, no one _really_ knew what happened between Ladybug and Chat Noir. No one knew about the things they did, no one knew about the subtle ways they showed their love for one another--platonically, of course--no one knew about the risks they took in order to keep Paris safe every single night. . . . they didn’t really _know_ the superheroes. All they saw was a facade.

He tried to break through those stereotypes in his fic. Bring to light the other aspects that made up Ladybug and Chat Noir’s partnership, not just the parts of them they showed to the public. But as he perceived Marinette’s increasingly confused expressions, he began to wonder if he went too far.

It only got worse from there. What started out as excitement on Marinette’s face slowly melted into something entirely different. Her face didn’t scream astonishment, delight, or _Adrien, you’re the best writer ever, I can’t believe I ever doubted you!_ Instead she looked. . . . seriously concerned? As if she was wondering why she ever agreed to read it? The joy Adrien originally felt started to fade, replacing itself with worry. Did she not like it? Did she not believe it was realistic enough? Did she think that it was a terrible representation of Ladybug and Chat Noir?

_Maybe I overestimated myself. It’s probably nowhere near as good as I thought it was. I was just being stupid._

Adrien’s self-confidence deflated in seemingly seconds. When Marinette finally finished the fic, she glanced at him before looking back at the screen at the story she just read. The look on her face could only be described as disbelief.

He hung his head. He could barely force himself to meet her eyes. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was that bad.” He felt guilty. Why had he ever thought subjecting one of his friends to his lame fantasies was a good idea?

“No!” Adrien’s head shot up to see Marinette indignantly shaking her head as she fumbled to correct his misinterpretation of her reaction. “No, it was wonderful. I loved it. It’s just. . . . I mean. . . .” She quickly looked back at her screen, then back at him, then back at the story, and then finally squinted as if she were studying him. “I. . . .”

Adrien held his breath, not daring to try and interpret what Marinette was trying to say. She seemed to be at a loss for words. Whatever reaction he’d been expecting, it definitely wasn’t this.

So when she finally opened her mouth, smiling as though he’d lit up her whole world, Adrien couldn’t help but lean closer and listen to her barely audible whisper.

“ _Chaton_?”

His heart practically stopped. Adrien searched Marinette’s eyes, looking for some sort of recognition, some sort of explanation for what she’d just said. Marinette gazed back at him with the same intensity. Because no, it couldn’t be. There was no way that. . . . she couldn’t possibly be--

“My lady?”

Though they were miles apart, connected only through a screen, Adrien knew the exact moment the two of them realized there was no going back. They _knew_ . The shock was present on both of their faces, but bigger than that was the relief. The relief that they’d finally found their partner, the love of their life--well, _he’d_ found the love of his life, he couldn’t say the same for Marinette though--and the feeling was _amazing._ How had he never noticed? How had he never noticed that the girl who sat behind him in class was the same girl that fought beside him nearly every single day?

Instantly the tension between them lifted as Marinette doubled over in laughter, exclaiming, “I can’t believe you wrote fanfiction about yourself!”

_Oh shoot._

Adrien awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “I. . . .” He began, hoping he could spare at least _some_ of his dignity. Unfortunately, he couldn’t seem to piece any words together.

She wheezed, trying her hardest to contain her hysterics. When she finally did, Marinette looked back up at him, saw his kicked puppy face, and eyes widening, doubled over in laughter once again.

“Not funny,” Adrien said, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting.

“So--so funny.” Marinette slapped the table with her hand, her entire body shaking. “You--you’re the _only_ person I know that would write fanfiction about _himself_.”

“Come on, you have to admit that it was _purrfect_ , bugaboo.”

That seemed to get her attention. As Marinette’s giggling slowly died off, she stared at him with an incomprehensible expression on her face. Once again Adrien could feel uneasiness rising between them.

Marinette suddenly seemed to find fiddling with her fingers quite interesting. “Did you. . . . did you really mean everything you wrote?”

_Oh._

He did. He one hundred percent meant every single word that he’d written. He had poured his entire being, his entire _soul_ into that story. But was it too early to tell her that? Would she take it the wrong way? He didn’t exactly know how Marinette felt about him, after all. They were friends, but was there ever a possibility that she would see him as more than that?

“Well. . . . kind of. I mean, I took a couple of creative liberties here and there, but. . . .” He trailed off.

“Oh.” Marinette nodded. “I see.”

The awkwardness was back, but it wasn’t long before it faded away. Adrien jokingly brought up writing another Ladynoir fanfic, and all Marinette could do was sigh, knowing very well that she could do little to stop him. They continued to banter until one of them had to go, and even then all they could do was look forward to the next time they could see each other. Maybe they wouldn’t be able to see each other _in person_ for a while, but as long as FaceTime was still a thing, they would continue to use it.

Adrien would tell her someday. Someday he would tell her about the butterflies in his stomach whenever she was around. He would reminisce about their silly banter, joyous laughter, and the sheer happiness he felt from her presence. Maybe someday, he’d even actually kiss her. Get to date her. Let all of his fantasies come to life.

She made him feel this way somehow. And he absolutely loved it.

**Author's Note:**

> One of my absolute favorite headcanons is that Adrien reads and writes Ladynoir fics, because that's how big of a dork he is :P Also, since I suck at titles, this title is a reference to the song "Say You Won't Let Go" by James Arthur, because I just so happened to be listening to it as I wrote this :P
> 
> Hope you enjoyed :D


End file.
